With a bone-chilling screech, the Hallow's grasp tightened around Mortuus's shoulders, driving him forcefully backward until his back met the surface of the wall. The air was punctuated with the sickening sound of impact as his body collided, the force of the assault threatening to knock the breath from his lungs.
As Mortuus struggled against his assailant's vice-like grip, his gaze was drawn inexorably to the creature's gaping maw. Within the cavernous expanse of its mouth, rows of jagged teeth gleamed with an otherworldly luminescence, casting an eerie glow upon the surrounding darkness. Each tooth shimmered with a mesmerizing hue, a haunting blend of purple and gold, while tendrils of thick black smoke curled and writhed like serpents, dripping ominously from its gnashing jaws.
It pinned him to the wall, pressing on his shoulders so hard that his collarbone was cracking, and he could feel his shoulder blades digging into the drywall. Its breath reeked of decay and rotted wood.
Its scream was so loud that Mortuus could feel the blood dripping from what was left of his ears. He braced himself, preparing for this skeletal creature to tear into him or sink its teeth into his neck. But it just kept him pinned with an iron grip and foul-smelling breathing.
Mortuus stared forward into its eyes; for once, he could see into those hollow sockets. Instead of having the white of the eyes, they were a purple hue with gold-flaked irises clouded over by a thick and slightly transparent black mist. The features on its face constantly shifted positions, and the color would change with them, going from an eigengrau color to a vantablack.
Mortuus tried pulling from its grip, but the Hallow had the strength of ten men. As he struggled, Jason spoke up, "Did... Did you really think... That you made it here on... Your own?" Mortuus thought back to how well-protected the house had been last time. Of course, Jason was watching him. Why wouldn't he be?
The Hallow's hand lifted, and its bones elongated and twisted, sinewy tendons shifting as its hand contorted into a fearsome weapon. The flesh seamlessly molded into a sharp spiral dagger that looked like a twisted knife. With an unearthly scream, it plunged the knife into Mortuus's skull; it burst from the back and into the wall with a shower of blood, brain matter, and fragments of bone.
With its arm fully through Mortuus and the wall, the Hallow pulled its hand from the hole and faded away. Mortuus's body went limp and slid down the wall, his stare unmoving. "You should... Have stayed away..." Jason coughed out.
In seconds, the bone fragments slithered back into place and covered the hole; the disgusting wet squishing sounds seemed a lot louder to Mortuus than they were. His eyes shot open, and his hand clenched onto his revolver in his pocket.
He moved his hair from his face, stood up with a groan, and joked, "You know, that's not how we end conversations."
Jason coughed and rolled his eyes. "You... You don't know how to stay dead, huh?" Mortuus laughed and walked closer. "If I did, do you think I'd still be in this hellhole?" he sarcastically asked.
Mortuus adjusted his hair and gripped his gun's handle tightly. Jason could use his Hallows to attack at any moment, so Mortuus felt like he had to be extra cautious. He may not be able to die, but Mortuus can definitely still feel pain, even if it's not the same as a normal person.
Jason lifted his hand slowly, his muscles shaking, and struggled to move. His voice slowly came out, "You're a strange creature, Peter..." Hearing Jason's raspy, beaten voice calling him Peter made Mortuus's skin crawl and have a shiver-like feeling.
From the strange way that Jason spoke, every word held significance and was felt on a deeper level by listeners. Each word felt like it was weighing down on his chest, and he tried shouting, but no words came out.
Mortuus's eyes wandered down to his own mouth, where he saw a hand made of shadows clasped tightly over it. He tried to scream or shout, anything to make his voice heard, but the sounds were muffled. It felt like he was screaming into a void.
To Mortuus's horror, the hand began to double and triple. Slowly, more and more hands gripped him until his line of sight was gone. It felt suffocating and claustrophobic, as his only view was darkness, darkness like he'd never felt before.
He felt like his ribcage was being crushed and puncturing into his lungs as the warm blood spilled inwards. It squeezed more, the bones beginning to crunch under the pressure. Mortuus felt his body heave as it desperately tried to force the blood from his lungs but got caught in the throat. He was literally choking on blood now.
As Mortuus's eyes fluttered back open and his ears cleared, he heard Death's voice calling to him with a dramatic wave of the scythe in hand like a sick version of Jesus, "Rise, my child."
Mortuus grimaced at him as he coughed up thick clumps of chunky blood from his lungs, "You dickface." he grumbled with a slight gurgle of blood.
Death laughed his low rumble laugh, his bones rattling slightly from the movement of laughter. He rested his hands on the scythe's shining, curved blade. "I would say that thou hast not learned aught from this experience, forsooth, that seemeth to be the truth."
Mortuus sat up on the edge of the bed, coughing blood onto the floor, "What the fuck does that even mean?" he asked in annoyance.
"You do not learn shit," Death answered, his face deadpan and unamused. Mortuus was used to Death's blunt responses, but this was a lot more blatant than usual.
"Rude... But, unfortunately, not wrong." Mortuus groaned with a wave of his hand. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. It didn't take very long.
"Bullet holes and dried blood on the walls, shattered glass, the smell of despair and isolation with a slight tinge of hopelessness in the air..." Mortuus took a deep breath and listed off the things in the room. "Ah... I'm home."
He was, indeed, in the room that he always stayed in of the bunker. The room he'd attempted to kill himself in at least seventeen times. It took him a minute to realize that something was a bit off about that.
"Wait... I'm... HOME?!" He shouted in confusion as he remembered that he had been at Jason's house before. How could this be possible? He thought back to the last thing he could remember. It was only those strange hands and terrifying creatures.
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